Punches, Grog, Mulled Wine - Recipes

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Warming low-alcohol drinks for holidays and weekdays

Recently, in the cold winter months, I began to abandon homemade red dry wine and began to cook mulled wine according to different recipes. There is another well-known warming drink that belongs to the flavored group and has a pleasant taste - punch. The origin of its name is associated with the ancient Indian word "punch", which means five, since it is assumed that it must be prepared from five main components - wine, rum, water or tea, sugar or honey and spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and others).

The punch owes its peculiar taste and aroma to cloves. As a rule, the punch itself is drunk hot, although after cooling its taste does not deteriorate, unless, of course, this business is too delayed so that the drink does not lose its bouquet and taste. It is preferable to use it in the cold period of the year - during long winter evenings, when bad weather has played out outside the window and a white blizzard is spinning outside the window. You can serve it when celebrating the New Year, at masquerades and balls, on a frosty day after returning from the street or from a ski trip. Such drinks not only warm, but also save from colds, drive away fatigue after a hard day and winter blues. They will not interfere also in a friendly company in early spring or late autumn, on a cool evening on the terrace of a country house, near a fire in the forest. And in general, you can just have a good time with not very strong alcoholic drinks. At home, punch is drunk from small coffee or porcelain cups, but not from metal containers (except for silverware). You can use for this and tall glass goblets or goblets, or glasses, preferably conical. But the dishes are preheated so that the containers do not crack when they are filled with a hot drink; you can drink it through a straw. Sometimes punch is served in glass glasses with cup holders or in a teapot.conical shape is preferred. But the dishes are preheated so that the containers do not crack when they are filled with a hot drink; you can drink it through a straw. Sometimes punch is served in glass glasses with cup holders or in a teapot.conical shape is preferred. But the dishes are preheated so that the containers do not crack when they are filled with a hot drink; you can drink it through a straw. Sometimes punch is served in glass glasses with cup holders or in a teapot.

Cooking punchIt is a rather simple procedure, but, according to experts, it is not recommended to pour hot water directly into rum or cognac, since then essential and aromatic substances evaporate from the latter, which spoils the taste of drinks. They advise pre-dissolving sugar in hot, but not boiling water, and then pour rum or cognac into this syrup (preferably along the edge of the dish), add spices and leave for 5-20 minutes, strain, then heat to 70 ° C, after which the product is poured into containers. It is believed that punch, like other mixed drinks, does not whet the appetite, so it is not customary to serve it with snacks. Punches (as well as mulled wine and grog - varieties of punch) are made for several servings at once - depending on the number and composition of guests (at the rate of 1 liter of ready-made hot drink for 5-8 people),since their preparation is associated with heating (always in an enamel container). Glassware is also used to prepare the drink. By the way, in the Scandinavian countries there is even a custom when the guest himself prepares mulled wine or grog, based on his taste preferences.

Mulled wine and grog, as I have already noted, are considered varieties of punch, but getting acquainted with the numerous modern literature on the preparation of hot drinks from wine and countless recipes for punch, mulled wine and grog, trying to understand the confusion of many recipes according to the principle of which to which group refer”, was surprised at the imagination of the authors.

On the eve of the holidays, first of all, I will give a recipe:

New Year's tea egg punch. Refined sugar is rubbed well with lemon and orange peel and poured over with very strong hot tea. Stir the egg yolks with honey or sugar, slowly pour in sweet tea and, whisking continuously, heat the mass over the fire, without bringing to a boil. After removing the mass from the heat, add rum, sweet wine, orange and lemon juices to it. Punch is served hot. You will need: wine - 2 tablespoons, tea - 200 ml, rum - 125 ml, juice of half a lemon, sugar - 100 g (or honey 50 g), 2 egg yolks, orange peel and half lemon peel.

The word mulled wine was formed from the German - "guen" (to glow) and "wine" (wine), i.e. it means "blazing (hot) wine." Classic mulled wine is made mainly from dry red (much less white) wine with the addition of sugar (honey) and spices (cinnamon, cloves, almonds and vanilla). Instead of natural vanilla, artificial vanilla sugar is sometimes used.

Some recipe authors suggest adding rum, cognac, liqueur, various tinctures, strong brewed tea in very small quantities to mulled wine (they say, mulled wine should not have a high degree, and additives should not change the aroma of the drink). Others advise preparing a drink of different strengths - from extraordinary combinations of alcoholic beverages and with a different set of spices. In my opinion, a classic mulled wine should be a drink without adding other alcoholic beverages to the wine (perhaps a little cognac) - especially since red table wine implies a degree of degree within 9 … 13 degrees (dry) and 14 … 16 degrees (special dry) … Therefore, it is probably advisable not to "go off scale" especially for this range of degrees.

In the most typical recipe for making 1 glass of mulled wine, take 180 ml of dry red table wine, 20 g of sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg (0.2 g each) and zest from 1 lemon: the mixture is brought to a boil, then filtered and added a slice of lemon or orange (in fairness, I note that sometimes it is advised to add another 20 g of brandy). Mulled wine is drunk immediately after cooking (hot), as the spices quickly lose their properties. Although it is believed that this drink does not stimulate the appetite, it is sometimes served with a hot meat dish at lunch or dinner, with a snack table, with pancakes; during small meals in combination with a small amount of snacks, with dry salty cookies, you can - with citrus fruits. By the way, about the scales: 5 "carnations" - carnation buds weigh 0.33 g (10 pieces - up to 0.7 g),and in 1 teaspoon / tablespoon of ground cinnamon there is 8/20 g, liqueur or cognac - 7/20, granulated sugar - 7/25 g.

I offer readers some of the most popular mulled wine recipes:

"Table". Sugar and spices are dissolved in a slightly warmed wine, brought to a boil, but not boiled. Then add lemon, let it brew for 10 minutes, filter. Red table wine - 1.5 l, sugar - 150 g, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg - to taste and lemon zest. Some authors suggest fixing this mixture with 200 ml of cognac, but since the drink is strong, it is handled with care, pouring it into small coffee cups. In another recipe, cinnamon, 6 cloves, juice and lemon zest are added to 2.25 liters of red table wine. "Ordinary". It contains 500 ml of red table wine, 100 g of granulated sugar, 10 g of cloves, 3 g of cinnamon.

"Dinner". You will need 500 ml of red table wine, 150 ml of water, 50 g of sugar, 50 ml of cognac, 5 g of cloves, 2 g of cinnamon. "Mulled wine in Russian". It consists of a mixture of 350 ml of red table wine, 150 ml of water, 60 g of sugar, 1 clove bud, 1 g of cinnamon, zest from 1 lemon. The remaining components are added to the hot sweet syrup, bring everything to a boil and then the juice of half a lemon is added. "Oriental style mulled wine". Wine with sugar and spices is brought to a boil, infused for 5-6 minutes. Serve to the table with a slice of lemon and apple slices. You need: 250 ml of red table wine, 100 g of sugar, 100 g of apples, 5-7 grains of black pepper, 5 g of cloves, 5 g of cinnamon, 1 lemon.

Mulled wine "Bulgarian style " looks like it. A mixture of wine, sugar, diced apples, spices is brought to a boil (or up to 75 … 80 ° C) and allowed to brew for 10-15 minutes. Then everything is filtered, poured into glasses, putting in each a slice of lemon and several cubes of apples. You will need: red table wine - 750 ml, apples - 200 g, sugar - 200 g, black pepper - 5 g, cinnamon-10 g, 1 lemon.

Another recipe "Mystery of Midas". Add sugar, diced medium-sized apples, black pepper, a piece of cinnamon, cloves to red wine. Bring wine to a boil, then remove from heat and stand for 10-15 minutes. Strain and serve hot, adding a slice of lemon and, if desired, a few apple cubes to each glass. You will need: wine - 1 liter, sugar - 1-1.5 cups, apples - 2 pcs., Black pepper - 15-20 pcs., 1 piece of cinnamon, 4-5 pcs. carnations. "Winter" … If someone wants tea with red wine (let's call it "tea mulled wine"), then you can bring 800-850 ml of water with spices (cinnamon and cloves to taste) to a boil, then add dry tea there (1-2 teaspoons,) let it brew for 10 minutes, add sugar (200 g), bring everything to a boil, strain and pour dry red wine (250 ml), then heat. This option is sometimes prepared like this: 750 ml of wine is mixed with 1 liter of ready-made infusion of strong tea, spices are added to taste, brought to a boil, and allowed to brew.

"Red". Dissolve 125 g of sugar in 400 ml of water, add 2 pcs. cloves and lemon peel, boil for 1-2 minutes. 0.75 l of red wine is poured into the strained mixture, reheated to 70 ° C.

"White". Dissolve 100 g of sugar in 125 ml of water, add 2 pcs. cloves, 3 pieces of cinnamon, bring to a boil. Then add 750 ml of white (or apple) wine, bring to 70 ° C. Serve with thin slices of orange or tangerine.

"White Nights". To 500 ml of white table wine add 100 ml of water, 3 clove buds, orange zest, heat. Beat 1 yolk with 2 tablespoons of sugar over low heat. Then a hot solution is poured into the resulting mass with yolk in a very thin stream, stirring constantly and whisking vigorously (over low heat). Served with orange slices.

"Kievsky". A mixture of 1.5 liters of sweet dessert red wine and 500 ml of the liqueur is brought to a boil, but not boiled. Put cinnamon and cloves (to taste) in the resulting hot mulled wine, 2 lemons, cut into thin slices, let it brew for about 10-15 minutes.

"Coffee aroma". 2 cups of strong natural coffee, 0.75 l of red table wine, 150 g of sugar with cloves are heated to 70 ° C, 100 g of brandy are added and served.

The authorship of the invention of the grog is attributed to the commander of the British fleet, Admiral Edward Vernen. The sailors gave him the nickname "Old Grog" because of the habit of walking around the ship in any weather in a waterproof cape made of coarse fabric "grogram". In 1740, he decided to break the tradition by ordering to give each sailor of his fleet a portion of rum diluted with water (apparently for the sake of economy), often the drink was very hot. The sailors named the new mixed drink "grog". Grog is prepared with rum, cognac and is always hot. The most successful is the ratio of alcohol and water 1: 4. For those who want to try grog, I offer several of its popular recipes:

Grog "Fisherman". Baykhov tea is poured with hot water, infused for 5 minutes, the broth is filtered, cognac, rum, lemon juice and lemon peel are added to it. Grog is sweetened with honey, whipped well. You will need: rum - 125 ml, cognac - 125 ml, juice of 2 lemons, honey - to taste, tea 6 teaspoons, peel of 1-2 lemons, water - 500 ml.

Grog "Milk Coast". Warm up milk and tea, add rum, brandy; put a slice of orange on top. Rum - 1 cup, cognac - 50 ml, milk - 100 ml, tea infusion - 50 ml, orange slice.

Honey-cognac grog "Sorcerer". Dissolve honey in hot tea infusion, put a slice of lemon and top up with vintage cognac. Cognac - 50 ml, lemon wedge, lime honey - 1 tablespoon, tea infusion - 150 ml.

Grog "Ruby Spark". Refined sugar, a slice of lemon are added to hot boiled water or tea, then red rum is added. Rum - 1-2 tablespoons, lemon wedge, sugar - 2-3 pieces, water or tea - 2/3 cup.

So if you are already tired of drinking red wine - make punch, mulled wine or grog, but it is not advisable to get carried away with this business, you need to use it in moderation, since these drinks are boring.

When preparing these drinks, you can be guided by the proposed recipes or give free rein to your imagination.